Word order: the whole story

The position of the words in Dutch isn't fixed, but fortunately there are clear rules.

A normal sentence:

A question:

Now we put one or more words before the basic sentence.
After which words do we get which sentence structure?

After the words:

en, maar, want, of (or), dus*

* = By dus you can choose: with or without inversion.

After the words:

dat omdat doordat voordat zodat ...	als zoals	of (if) alsof
	die
	hoewel terwijl	toen sinds

Question words without a question:

wie, wat, waar, wanneer, waarom, hoe, welk(e)

After all other words.

Normal sentences have this structure:

A real sentence:

Important: an inverted jij-form loses the 't':

The preposition (van) is part of the rest and remains at the same place. Even when the preposition is part of the verb, as in houden van:

Important: in a subclause, the subject (er) comes right after dat, omdat, als, ...: